


Some days in Phil's kindergarten

by aquinique



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, ClintCoulson Lives!, Deaf Clint, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Not Beta Read, Protective Phil Coulson, Teacher!Coulson, cameos by wee!Bucky, wee!Clint, wee!Natasha and wee!Steve, wee!Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-25
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-26 11:12:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1686287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquinique/pseuds/aquinique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil is out with his small class of kidnergarteners when a small crisis strikes. Luckily, he is not alone in this and help is on the way!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some days in Phil's kindergarten

**Author's Note:**

> This small piece was written in response to Clint Coulson Lives! initiative, because these two boys own my heart and my currently 103-pages-long epic is not yet finished and I wanted to show my appreciation for them very, very much.
> 
> This story is based on a real-life situation and contains a child in distress, so please beware. However, I can guarantee that everything ends well. It's also not a standard C/C, but since it was inspired by the initiative and Clint certainly loves his teacher Mr. Coulson, I allowed myself the liberty to post it under the Clint Coulson Lives! tag. This is my first story after ages and I love constructive criticism. Last warning: This story was not beta read, so grammarians, please, beware.

    “Mr. Coulson, but I want to….” Tony said petulantly with a look that wasn’t a subtle as he probably thought it was . He clearly decided to do what he wanted regardless of Phil’s reasoning. Phil petted Tony on the head, but before the boy could offer another argument defending his intentions, there was a loud distressed cry. Phil looked at Tony, who gazed at him with large startled eyes. “You can’t build a trebuchet. Now, wait here,” Phil instructed decisively while he started scanning his flock of kids trying to find the one hurt.

He strode between the kids running around energetically. With half of his mind on the task he put Bucky climbing the biggest tree down, where Steve was waiting for him with eyes big like saucers. The moment Bucky’s feet touched the ground Steve grabbed his hand and decisively dragged him away from the tree towards Natasha, the feisty leader of the gang. Before Phil could make a mental note to check on the small group later (because Natasha was extremely resourceful when it came to little devilries) he heard a distraught small cry. It was somewhere close, a little to the side from the hustle and bustle of his precocious and highly energetic kindergarteners.

He finally caught a flop of blond hair almost hidden behind a bush. There was a small boy hugging his legs and crying into his knees.

“What’s going on, Clint?” Phil called out gently. Thankfully, despite his distraught cries, Clint didn’t seem to be hurt. Maybe somebody hurt him? The thought staggered Phil because his class was sometimes a bit overwhelming, but they were good kids, and while Clint was new and even smaller than the other kids, they accepted him. Or so he had thought. He crouched down by the little boy and gently laid a hand on the small shoulder shaking with cries.

“Clint, what’s going on?”

The small kid jerked away from his hand and scrambled away a few paces. His face covered in tears and dust was contorted with fear. Before Phil could placate him, Clint flunked himself at him. So far the boy had kept his distance from everybody, but now he attached himself to Coulson’s leg like an octopus, squeezing his knee with surprising strength for such a small boy. His whole body was wreaked with shivers.

Coulson instinctively patted the boy’s head, smoothing the messy hair and stroking small shoulders. Clint’s small hands didn’t give a single inch though, still squeezing him like a lifeline. Coulson wanted to crouch down, but with the little boy attached to him so tightly, it was impossible.

“Clint, what’s going on?” he asked gently trying to project calmness. Clint’s cries were starting to attracted other kids, which were slowly approaching them. Some were observing the scene curiously (Tony Stark), other with watery eyes and quivering chins.

Fortunately, the sudden disruption also attracted the adults. It took Nick one look at the scene to recognize the danger of crying domino effect. With a single nod giving Phil the reigns he herded the other kids away. That left Coulson alone with Clint under the watchful eye of Tony, who was an immovable force. Never mind, Phil thought resigned. He finally managed to gently pry away Clint’s tiny hands from his leg so he can crouch down to him.

“Clint, what’s going on?” he asked while scanning the boy’s dirty face for any sign of an injury, but just like the rest of the body, it seemed unharmed.

“I can’t hear!” the boy wailed, launched himself at Coulson and catching him around the neck he hung on him desperately. Phil’s hands reflexively closed around the small body quivering against his chest. Clint was shaking like a leaf and fervently whispering against Phil's neck.

“I can’t hear, I can’t hear anything, I can’t hear….”

“It’s OK, Clint. We’ll work it out.” Phil soothed, although he realized that if Clint wasn’t looking at his lips, it was impossible to communicate with him. He didn’t have the heart to push the boy away though.

“I can’t hear, I can’t hear…” Clint cried his mantra while soaking them both in tears and probably also snot.

“We’ll figure it out, it’s OK, Clint. It’s OK, Clint. It’s OK.” Phil repeated in time with Clint’s cries, not daring to let go off the boy yet. He needed to calm the child first.

He almost didn’t notice when Tony approached them.  He gave the boy a stern eye over Clint’s head tucked against his neck, because the last thing Clint needed now was being scared again or stared at like some circus attraction.

However, Tony ignored the hard eye, his concentration fixed on the small device planted behind Clint’s ear. One small step after another he approached them, looking at the device from various angles like a curious chicken until he was standing next to them. With small hands, he cautiously reached out and touched something.

“There…that should…”

“I c…”Clint’s wail stopped in mid word. He stiffened, but then his small hands released Phil's neck and he looked at the teacher wondrously. “I can…I can hear!” his eyes lit up with gratefulness.

“Yeah, it’s OK now.” Phil said equally relieved. Clint smiled in response and curled back against Phil’s neck. There were still small after-shocks running through the boy. Holding him protectively against his chest, Phil reached out with his other hand and caught Tony’s small hand.

“Thank you, Tony. That was amazing, what you did.”

The small boy looked up to him seriously. “Just a cable problem,” he said dismissively and shrugged.

“It was still amazing,” Phil insisted with a smile

“You think?” Tony wondered distrustfully.

“Yeah, I think,” Phil answered decisively gently squeezing Tony’s little hand to emphasize his point.

“I think so too.”Clint pipped up looking down from Phil’s arms towards Tony hopefully.

Tony nervously shuffled. “You wanna play?”

Clint beamed. “Yeah.”

Tony beamed back. “Awesome. I can show you the bug I’ve found, it’s right over there by the wall!” he waved with his hand excited.

Clint looked at Phil questioningly. “Can I go, Mr. Coulson?”

Phil smiled, he took out a wet tissue from his pocket and gently cleaned Clint’s messy face. “Yeah, go and play.”

He watched with delight as the class’s biggest loners went to poke a bug: Tony was running excitedly to share his treasure and small Clint tumbling after him as quickly as his small legs would carry him. For a small second Clint turned around and gave Phil a dazzling adoring smile. Some days in Phil's class were definitely better than other for everybody.

 


End file.
